


To Sing in the Forest Sorrowless

by Enonem



Category: The Lord of the Rings - J. R. R. Tolkien
Genre: Archery, Bisexual Character, Ithilien, Multi, Mutual Pining, Partial Nudity, Polyamory, Sexual Tension
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-28
Updated: 2020-11-28
Packaged: 2021-03-09 21:53:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,841
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27763309
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Enonem/pseuds/Enonem
Summary: Aragorn and Faramir have feelings for each other, but they don't know how to address them. Arwen and Éowyn try to help them out.Yet another attempt by me to imitate Tolkien's high style.
Relationships: Aragorn | Estel/Arwen Undómiel/Éowyn/Faramir (Son of Denethor II)
Comments: 4
Kudos: 11





	To Sing in the Forest Sorrowless

In the first time after the return of the King, Faramir, Prince of Emyn Arnen, dwelt but seldom in his domain. For there was much to be done in Minas Tirith and the King kept him often at his side. This Faramir did gladly at first. For he loved the city dearly and was not ready to quit it. And though the Lady Éowyn his wife loved the grass and the trees of Ithilien better than the tall walls of the Tower, she too was glad to stay and rejoiced in being among so many noble and valiant people, among which she was not last in honour.

Each day the King and the Steward were seen walking along the walls of the citadel, looking out at the land and speaking quietly together. And at times they were seen standing still and silent, looking not to the world outside, but to each other. For both men could read the hearts of others and in this way they would often converse.

From one such meeting Faramir returned one day and there was a shadow upon his face. He called Éowyn to him and held her close and would not speak of what troubled him.

“I wish to go into Ithilien,” he told her as they lay together. “The King has no more need of me here and there is work still to be done in my land. But if it is your desire to remain still, then I will linger also. For I will not tear my heart any further.”

Éowyn did not ask him what he meant. She put her arms around him and kissed his head, where it lay on her chest. “Let us go into the East. Among the meadows and the flowing streams where there is no talk of war and where your smiles give me more renown than the praise of a hundred valiant lords. Faramir laughed and kissed her.

In the morning he begged the King leave to depart. This was granted readily, but not without sorrow.

-

Now the King walked the battlements alone and spent long hours gazing East. One day the Queen spoke to him. “Ever you look into the East. Many wonder at this, for the threat that lay that way is gone. Yet I see that your eyes do not look towards the mountains, but to a land closer at hand and it is not danger of arms that clouds your happiness.”

Then Aragorn replied to her and concealed nothing, for their hearts were ever open to one another. “I have borne many partings in my life, Arwen, as you well know. Long I wandered and knew many friendships. Yet in this moment no distance is heavier in my heart than that of my Steward, though he is not far and I shall see him many times and soon. For I say he is strong and fair. And though he has felt much grief, his heart is yet fresh as a young tree in the spring.”

“Long years you have laboured, keeping your purpose ever fixed in your mind and that is now achieved. Another man, were he to stand where you are, would be glad of it still and think little of other sorrows.”

“Another man might ignore them for gladness. But not I.”

“Then all for which you have worked is not yet in your hand and your road is not at its end. You must follow it still.”

-

The gardens of Ithilien gladdened for a time the heart of Faramir. United in common purpose, he and the wife he loved spent their days in joyful labour and at eve they would walk beneath the trees, smiling in their happiness.

But this joy had short life and again Faramir grew sullen in mood. His heart was heavy with a burden made worse by being secret. For he dared not reveal to Éowyn that the love he bore for King Elessar was other than a servant ought to feel.

Keenly he remembered the voice that called him back from the dark. And if the loveliness and valiant heart of Éowyn had bound him to her, it had not dispelled the memory of his Lord’s voice.

But in truth the Lady Éowyn saw all and said nothing. For she had not forgot in her heart the strength of the Lord Aragorn as he stood at the door of Meduseld. She had set down her sword, but he had also and was not diminished in glory in her eyes. She had seen the quiet talk between King and Steward and she had seen also the secret looks, which neither man was aware of. And she knew their meaning and her chest was stirred with feelings for which she had no name.

It came to be one day that the King and Queen came to Ithilien unexpected. Faramir and Éowyn welcomed them with all the appearance of joy and disguised their unease. But there was a new smile on Aragorn’s face and he appeared to them as an Elf-lord in the youth of the world.

Glad days followed and for a time the matters of the kingdom were forgotten. Long hours the lords spent walking among the trees, speaking together of many matters. And they learned much from each other, for both were rich in lore.

At times Arwen and Éowyn walked with them, but more often they spent their leisure delighting in the wide meadows, far from the eyes of noble lords, and tested each other in athletic feats.

This surprised neither one of their husbands. For now that she was recovered, great energy was in the Lady Éowyn and she ill bore idleness. And if Imladris was a place for song and quiet study, otherwise was the wood of the Lady Galadriel. And Arwen, who had lived long in that land, was as mighty in body as her mind was keen. And yet she only surpassed Éowyn half the time in the footrace and, if her arrows were surer of their mark, she never could master a horse as well as the fair haired lady of the Rohirrim.

When darkness fell, the four would sit together long into the night, singing tales of the Elder Days and of younger times also. And Éowyn had no cause to resent the lower lineage of her own kin, as it was deemed by many in Gondor. For the Rohirrim have many tales and fair songs and she sang them with stirring voice. Faramir and Arwen listened with a light in their faces and even Aragorn, who had heard these songs in his youth, looked now at her with new eyes.

—

One night, after several days had been so spent, Queen Arwen spoke to the King as they lay together. “My husband, you love the Lord Faramir as you love me. And in this you have my blessing, for he is worthy of love and your heart is great, as I would not restrain it. His heart turns to you in the same manner, this we both see clearly. Yet already we have been here five days and you have yet to bare your heart to him, though we came with that purpose.”

Aragorn answered her. “Many times I have been on the verge of doing so. But always some thought holds me back. I am King and he has sworn fealty to me. Would not honour be broken if I compelled his resolve by open speech? And he is my Steward, my counsellor. It is his duty to keep me on my road should I stray off it. But how could he do so if we shared a bed as well as the council room?”

Arwen laughed and her voice was merry. “My dear Estel, for many years I have held your heart and for months I have shared your bed. Has that ever stopped me from speaking my mind to you? Faramir is honest and truehearted. I believe rather he will be emboldened in his duty when your head rests on his chest.”

Aragorn smiled, for he knew that she spoke true. But he had more to say. “He hesitates on account of his wife and mine. How can I reassure him on that point while keeping intact your honour and that of the Lady Éowyn?”

“If such is your concern, then this I say to you. Noble is the Lord Faramir, and wise and fair to your eyes. But so is Éowyn to mine.” She then said no more.

-

On the following day, Arwen invited the men to join Éowyn and herself in their sport. “For though you are at rest from war,” she said. “And glad of it, yet you cannot let your limbs weaken. And activity for the body will lift the clouds that darken your minds still.” To this they had no opposition and agreed to it gladly.

A contest of archery had been set for the day. Arwen first stepped up. Her bow was after the fashion of Lórien and matched the beauty of its wielder. She drew the bow with an easy arm that belied the power of the weapon. She stood tall and strong as a young tree. Bright was her eye and sure was her aim. Aragorn and Éowyn looked on with delight and Faramir wondered at her.

Aragorn then took up the challenge. His bow was old and worn and seemed unfit for a king, but his hands knew it well. His draw was swift, but his form was perfect. The three that were assembled saw the great power in his limbs that had been hidden under his royal garments and kindly smile. They looked at him with admiration and their eyes did not follow the arrow’s flight.

It was Éowyn who shot next. Her bow was short and of a strange shape. Her stance too was strange in their eyes. When she drew her bow, sinews stood out on her bare arms, but her fingers slipped lightly on the string and the arrow flew swift to its mark. And if her arrow was to the side of the others, it was sunk deeper. Aragorn rejoiced in her strength and Arwen long admired her form. But Faramir smiled at their wonder and looked on his wife with pride.

Finally the Lord Faramir took up his own bow. This was an impressive weapon, made from a single piece of wood. It was taller even than was the custom among his people, reaching above his head when unstrung. He drew the great bow with ease and Aragorn wondered at his strength. Broad were his shoulders, steady his arms, keen and serene his eye. He stood like one of the First Kindred of old. A student of Oromë, before war marred the joys of life. Aragorn looked at him with admiration and desire. Of this Éowyn took notice and Arwen saw that she took notice.

When all their arrows were shot, the day was given to the Queen. But the contestants had little care for the result, as each had other thoughts in their heart.

-

Later in the day, the ladies sat by a stream that flew gently amid the trees and its water was clear and cold. Éowyn sat on the bank, dipping her bare feet in the cold water to restore herself in the summer heat. Arwen lay near her, singing a song she had learned from her grandmother Galadriel, who had herself learned it from Melian. It was a song of women and though Éowyn could not understand its words, yet it had that virtue of Elven songs by which it nevertheless conjured images and feelings to her mind. She smiled softly as she listened.

When her song was finished, Arwen sat next to Éowyn and spoke to her. “Lady, I know that you have seen the love which our husbands bear for each other, though they speak not of it.”

“I see it,” Éowyn answered, but she kept her eyes on the flowing water. “Yet I know not where it leads.”

“You are young Éowyn, even among the reckoning of your people, to be so easily touched by sadness. These are days of peace and the darkness is gone. To what could this love bring us except to happiness? Surely you do not doubt your husband’s heart? For nobody who has seen him at your side could doubt his devotion to you.”

“It is not his heart I doubt, Lady, but my own. As there are no secrets between you and the King, you must know what I loved him once. For a time I told myself that it was a false love, but now I no longer know.” She looked up finally at Arwen and her eyes burned. “Now I know my heart no longer, save that I love Faramir.”

Arwen smiled gently at her and took her hand in hers. “Then seek not to know your heart alone and in silence. This I say to you. In you I see the wind that runs over the grass of the Mark and when I am with you it is as though I was young once more. Your love is free and proud as the horses of your land. Do not bridle it but let it run where it will.”

Éowyn answered her and a smile danced in her eyes. “Tell me, my queen, how would such a course help my husband and yours own to their own hearts?”

“Know you what obstacles they have placed in their own way?”

“Their duty and our honour.”

Arwen leaned closer to her. “The latter obstacle at least, such as they perceive it, we may remove ourselves.”

Éowyn looked on queen Arwen and thought, not for the first time, that she was beautiful. For her hair was no less dark than that of the two lords. And her eyes were brighter. She laughed for joy and kissed Arwen, who took her in her arms.

There their husbands found them at the dying of the day. Pale and strong were Éowyn’s limbs around the Lady Arwen and her breasts were hid by the queen’s hair as under a veil of night.

Arwen rose slowly from where she lay bare atop Éowyn and sat in the grass looking at them both. A smile was on her face as one who knows many things. The same smile Aragorn wore looking at her. But Éowyn lifted her arms towards her husband and he went to her, though his hands shook. Then Éowyn kissed him and her hands took fear and doubt from his shoulders. Faramir took her in his arms. When they next looked about them there were stars in the sky and they saw that they were alone.

Long into the night they spoke. Of duty and of liberty and of love in its many faces. They unburdened themselves of secrets and with light hearts they gave themselves to one another once more.

-

In the morning, Faramir went into the woods. There he found Aragorn sitting alone in the shade of a tree. His eyes were closed, but he did not sleep. He looked like a king and yet not. Peace was on his face, as one who has travelled many miles and has at last found rest from fatigue and care and sees no reason to worry today about what tomorrow will bring. Faramir looked on him and wished to share that peace with him. For he was weary still. Asking no leave, he sat by the king and they were long in silence.

At last, Faramir spoke. “Already you know my heart, Lord. As I know yours.”

“Yes,” was the reply. “Your heart and your fears. And you know mine.”

Faramir smiled. “But our wives have shown us their wisdom. And with it our foolishness.”

Aragorn laughed. “Few men are there who would call their King a fool to his own face.”

“The Steward who did not do so at need would ill suit his office. Dear you are to me as King. As such I will always speak true to you. But dearer yet than King you are to me. And my heart will always be open to you.”

“And such a heart it is as it does me honour to know.”

Aragorn took Faramir’s hand in his and Faramir kissed him. All day they remained in the woods unseen and the sound of their laughter was light in the air.

When night fell, they found their wives once more and all were united in joy and laughter.

In the days and years that followed, love and happiness grew among them and many a night did the four spend together in song and delight. The hearts of Aragorn and Éowyn soon reached out to one another and Faramir and the Lady Arwen rejoiced. Yet long was Faramir in awe of the Elven light of Arwen’s eyes before the sweetness of her laugh allowed him to take her hand.

**Author's Note:**

> The title is paraphrased from the song of Beren and Lúthien in LotR.  
> If anyone is wondering about Arwen getting buff in Lothlórien, apparently somewhere in the HoME there is a mention of Galadriel wearing her hair up when doing sport before the Exile and that just sent me feral.


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